The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

The grain official's legs suddenly swayed, as if he were about to collapse, and he hurriedly replied, "Reporting to the Prefect, the granary currently holds a total of 10,921 shi of grain."

Upon hearing this number, the prefect of Xi'an breathed a sigh of relief and immediately ordered: "Open the granaries immediately and distribute grain to the affected counties and villages for disaster relief."

After giving his instructions, the Xi'an prefect was to prepare a memorial to the imperial court explaining the flood situation in Xi'an and requesting the central government to allocate funds and grain.

However, after the Xi'an prefect gave the order, the grain official and another official did not leave, looking troubled.

The Xi'an prefect's face darkened, and he questioned, "Prefect Zheng, what are you still standing there for?"

"Yes, yes, Your Excellency obeys."

Judge Zheng nodded hurriedly and left with the grain official.

The prefect of Xi'an didn't think too much about it and was about to prepare to write a memorial, but not long after he started writing, someone else came in to report.

"Your Excellency, a few people have arrived and wish to see you."

The prefect of Xi'an was busy at the time, and upon hearing this, he didn't even look up and said, "I won't see anyone now."

He's busy writing memorials now and doesn't have time to see anyone.

However, after the Xi'an prefect finished speaking, the man did not leave, but said, "Your Excellency, the person who came is Master Yue of the Huashan Sect."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, the prefect of Xi'an looked up in astonishment.

Although he had only been the prefect of Xi'an for a short time, he had already heard of the Huashan Sect and knew that it was a martial arts sect located in Huashan.

Although he was a member of the imperial court, he knew that these martial arts sects were not to be trifled with. In particular, he had made a special effort to learn about the Huashan Sect before taking office. He knew that the Huashan Sect was one of the top martial arts sects and had a great influence in Shaanxi. In particular, the prefect of Hanzhong had written to him some time ago, asking him to help the Huashan Sect acquire some properties. Naturally, the prefect of Xi'an had a deep impression of the Huashan Sect.

Upon hearing that Yue Buqun wanted to see him, the prefect of Xi'an, though unaware of the reason, dared not be careless.

"Please come in quickly."

The prefect of Xi'an put down his pen and hurriedly replied.

"Yes."

The man nodded and left, and a short while later, three people wearing straw raincoats came in.

The leader took off his raincoat and put down his straw hat, revealing the face of a middle-aged man.

"Yue Buqun of the Huashan Sect greets the Prefect."

Yue Buqun bowed to the Prefect of Xi'an.

Although Yue Buqun did not hold an official position, the prefect of Xi'an did not dare to be careless and quickly returned the greeting: "Greetings, Sect Leader Yue."

The prefect of Xi'an looked at the two men beside Yue Buqun and asked, "May I ask who you two are?"

Yue Buqun said, "They are my disciples."

The prefect of Xi'an nodded and said to the two young heroes, "Greetings, you two young heroes."

The two returned the greeting.

After exchanging greetings, the Xi'an prefect finally asked his question.

"The disaster situation in Xi'an Prefecture is severe at present. This prefecture is about to submit a memorial to the court to request disaster relief. What brings you here, Sect Leader Yue?"

With the disaster so severe, why is Yue Buqun looking for him at this critical juncture?

Yue Buqun said, "Your Excellency, that is why I have come here."

"Oh?"

The prefect of Xi'an was surprised.

Yue Buqun said solemnly, “Floods have struck all parts of Shaanxi, and countless people have been displaced. As a righteous sect, the Huashan Sect will not stand idly by. Dozens of people from the Huashan Sect have come down the mountain with me to help with the disaster relief, and Mr. Mo Da from the Hengshan Sect has also come.”

The prefect of Xi'an was filled with awe upon hearing this.

"Sect Leader Yue is concerned about the country and its people; I admire him."

Yue Buqun didn't mince words and asked directly, "I wonder how the Prefect plans to provide disaster relief?"

Upon hearing Yue Buqun's question, the prefect of Xi'an felt slightly uncomfortable, but still replied, "I have already ordered the granaries to be opened and grain to be distributed. I am now preparing to submit a memorial to the court requesting disaster relief."

Normally, the prefect of Xi'an would report the situation of Xi'an Prefecture to the provincial governor of Shaanxi Province. The provincial governor was in charge of the important affairs of the province, and the office of the provincial governor of Shaanxi was located in Xi'an Prefecture, which was under the jurisdiction of the provincial governor. However, the position of the provincial governor of Shaanxi was vacant at the time, so the prefect of Xi'an could only write memorials to the imperial court.

Yue Buqun nodded, not saying much about it, but said: "Prefect, it will take some time to request disaster relief from the court. I'm afraid there won't be enough food during this time. You can buy food in the market to provide disaster relief."

The Xi'an Prefect said helplessly, "I understand that, but the prefecture is short of silver and cannot purchase much grain. We can only open the granaries for disaster relief first and wait until we get through this period. I will then try to borrow grain from other places."

At this moment, Yue Buqun said, "Your Excellency, I can donate silver to purchase grain for the government's disaster relief efforts."

The prefect of Xi'an was overjoyed upon hearing this.

Is this true?

Yue Buqun nodded, then took out a stack of silver notes from his pocket.

"Here are 100,000 taels of silver notes, which can be used by the Prefect to purchase grain for disaster relief."

"If it's not enough, Yue can provide more."

Looking at the stack of silver notes, the prefect of Xi'an was overjoyed.

He had been worried about how to get through the current situation, but with this money, he no longer had to worry.

One tael of silver can buy two shi of grain. Yue Buqun took out 100,000 taels, which is enough to buy 200,000 shi of grain, enough to feed hundreds of thousands of disaster victims for a long time. If the subsequent disaster relief is done properly, the disaster situation in Xi'an Prefecture can be completely controlled, and it will even leave a great mark on his resume.

"Sect Leader Yue, on behalf of the disaster victims of Xi'an Prefecture, I bow to you."

The prefect of Xi'an bowed deeply to Yue Buqun.

"The disaster relief efforts in Xi'an Prefecture depended entirely on the prefectural governor."

Yue Buqun cupped his hands in farewell and then took his leave.

"Master, why do we have to hand over the silver to the government so they can provide disaster relief? Why can't we provide disaster relief ourselves?"

Once outside the government office, Linghu Chong couldn't help but ask.

Yue Buqun explained, “It’s very troublesome for us to do this kind of thing, and we can’t manage so much right now. You have to know that it’s not just Xi’an Prefecture that’s affected by the disaster; other places are also affected. We also have to go to other prefectures to provide disaster relief. Only by handing it over to the government can we do our best to ensure that most of the people can survive.”

The Huashan and Hengshan sects combined only have a little over two hundred people, which is far from enough to cope with the disaster in Shaanxi. Only by doing this can more people survive.

But Linghu Chong was still somewhat uneasy.

"I'm afraid that if I hand over so much silver to the government, those corrupt officials will embezzle it."

Before Yue Buqun could speak, Jiang Ning spoke up.

"It's ok."

Jiang Ning remained calm.

"If they dare to do that, let them spit it out the way they swallowed it."

Chapter 630: Buying Grain

"Yes."

Yue Buqun nodded; he shared the same thought.

Actually, if there were other options, he wouldn't have wanted to hand over 100,000 taels to the government. However, their manpower was severely limited, and disaster relief was extremely complicated. Only by handing it over to the government could they save more of the affected people.

Hearing his master and junior brother say this, Linghu Chong had no objections.

Yue Buqun then looked at Jiang Ning.

"I will be setting off for other disaster-stricken prefectures later. You will stay in Xi'an Prefecture to help with disaster relief."

Yue Buqun wasn't one to simply hand over money and leave; he wanted to keep people behind for another reason besides assisting the government with disaster relief.

It means surveillance.

Yue Buqun knew that if he handed over the 100,000 taels of silver to the prefect of Xi'an, someone would definitely embezzle the disaster relief funds, and then they would have to take action.

"Ah."

Jiang Ning nodded.

"Here are fifty thousand silver notes. Take them for a rainy day."

Yue Buqun took out 50,000 taels of silver and handed it to Jiang Ning.

"It's Master."

Jiang Ning nodded and accepted it.

The group then returned to the inn. At this time, the disciples of Huashan and Hengshan were all there. Master Mo Da, Feng Buping, and Cheng Buyou had already led some disciples to other prefectures.

Yue Buqun left dozens of people in Xi'an and Jiangning to help with disaster relief, and then led Linghu Chong and other disciples to Hanzhong.

……

At this time, the Xi'an prefect had finished writing his memorial and sent it to the capital. He was about to ask someone which officials were in charge of repairing the river embankment last year when someone came in to report.

"My lord, someone else wants to see you."

The prefect of Xi'an frowned and asked.

"Who?"

Why are so many people looking for him today?

"I don't know, I just came with Headmaster Yue of the Huashan Sect."

Ok?

The prefect of Xi'an frowned and said, "Let him in."

"Yes."

The person who came in left, and a short while later, another person came in.

"Young hero, is there anything else?"

The Xi'an prefect asked politely.

Jiang Ning took off his bamboo hat and laughed, "The disaster in Xi'an Prefecture is severe. My fellow disciples and I are planning to stay here to do our part for the people affected by the disaster. So we have come to assist the government in disaster relief."